The Moore Family

By Igin Staff

Aquatrols

For Robert Moore, Sr., epiphany came after he had a chemical engineering degree in hand:
During that time, drinking beer on the back porch and looking at a
puddle in the backyard, a guy said, "Boy, I got lousy soil. Look at that
water there." And as a joke, I said, 'Maybe you've got lousy water.'
And that's where it all started."
Today, the company that Moore built in 1954, Aquatrols Corporation of
America, is one of the most recognizable developers of soil surfactants
in the world.
Says Moore, "I got my chem-E degree (chemical engineering) from Cornell,
but the horticulture, agriculture, agronomy and green industry side of
it came from the college of hard knocks, as my
father put it. I just applied thinking to it, and took it from there."
Before involving himself in the development of wetting agents for turf,
landscapes and farms, Moore had tried his hand in other disciplines.
After graduation from college, he worked in the research
department of Mobil Oil for ten years. Then, he attempted to create a
business around the composting of municipal waste to produce fertilizer,
an idea which was perhaps ahead of its time.
Aquatrols was the effort that finally paid off, and among the company's
most supportive voices were Moore's own children, Demie, Tracy and Andy.
"I always thought that what my Dad was contributing to -- more efficient
use of water -- was a cool and very worthwhile thing for the world,"
says Demie Moore, corporate
director and business manager for snow products. "It was a cause that I
was interested in contributing to in some way. I also enjoyed plants and
pretty turf areas. After I went to a trade show
without my father, I felt he needed assistance to further his great
cause, and I offered to join in."
Robert Moore is now retired, and while passing the torch from one
generation to the next can often lead to headaches, Aquatrols President
Tracy Jarman credits her father with a very smooth
transition.
"Dad knew when he wanted to retire," she explains. "He wanted to retire
when he turned 70. At that time, he truly stepped back, although he's
still involved in several
projects for the company.?
Director of Business Development Andy Moore points to shared goals as
one of the greatest things about working so closely with family.
"Everybody has a stake in the company's success. Everyone wants to see
the business move ahead."
Tracy agrees. "A high level of trust exists here," she says. "It's a
great thing knowing that everyone is committed to the business."
On the other side of the coin are those issues that all family
businesses face; and for Andy, one that stands out is the tendency for
the scales to tip in favor of the corporate side of their
lives.
"If I happen to be talking to one of my sisters or my dad, in the
day-to-day, it's all business talk, you forget to ask, 'How are you
doing?' You forget to talk about family,
and you end up talking about work all the time. You kind of forget the
personal side of it."
And is it likely that a third generation will pick up where Tracy, Demie
and Andy leave off. Robert Moore's grandchildren range in age from 2 to
12, and while none have come right out and said
that they want to take the company reins when they get older, their
grandfather has observed that they like to plant and pick vegetables.
So, maybe there's an agricultural and horticultural
seed growing in the next batch of Moores as well.
By the time the grandkids take over, the green industry may have evolved
considerably, given how things have changed from generations one to
two. In his 50-year involvement with all things green,
Robert Moore cites the increase in education as one of the biggest
changes he's witnessed.
He says, "I think the people running greenhouses, running lawn care
services, and running golf courses today are far more educated than they
were one or two generations ago. When I started back
in the '50s, nobody running a golf course had a degree. Today, these
people have not only undergraduate degrees, but sometimes master's and
doctorates."
In the long run, he feels this education is excellent, because the more
you know about something, the greater your chances of doing a good job.
However, he feels that more newcomers to the industry
should be willing to roll up their sleeves.
"It takes a personal willingness to get your hands dirty," says Moore.
"I think there are still too many schools teaching their students that,
'We've taught you
everything you need to know.' I gave a talk to a bunch of students one
time and said, 'You know the names of all the tools, but do you know how
to use them?' I told them the best
thing they could do was go out and get themselves positions as
assistants someplace; get their hands dirty doing the work and finding
out what the tools really do. Then they can put their training
and education to work."